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The main goal of the Single European Sky (SES) initiative is to restructure the European ATM system towards a more efficient air transport system, harmonising and improving air navigation services, reducing the current fragmentation by creating functional airspace blocks (FAB) based on operational requirements, particularly traffic flow, rather than on national boundaries.

Meeting the goals of the Single European Sky will provide a response to the challenges associated with the estimated growth of the next few decades in the air transport industry, generating additional capacity for forecast future demand, and increasing the overall performance of the European air traffic management system.

The key targets of the SES initiative include:

• Establishing a performance assessment system, setting the required performance levels for all industry players in key areas, such as safety, the environment, capacity and profitability.
• Establishing a European network manager who will assume a set of ATM functions, such as: designing routes at the European level, managing radar frequencies and codes, air traffic flow management (ATFM) and synchronising the deployment of new technologies.
• Establishing cross-border functional airspace blocks (FAB) based on operational requirements for a more rational organisation of airspace. In this context, the geographical location of Portugal and Spain at the south-western tip of Europe and the characteristics of their respective traffic make these States natural partners for establishing a functional airspace block, which is why Aena and the other actors involved are currently taking an active role in several areas and levels to establish a FAB in South-Western Europe (SW FAB).

For its development, it has been launched SESAR (Single European Sky ATM Research), an R&D&i proyect of the whole European air transport community whhich is dedicated to implementing a high performance European air traffic management network by 2020.